Paint Me Red
by dark-spirited Bakura
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Soul is hospitalized yet again. As the Madness starts to consume him, will he start to develop feelings for one of his friends who just so happens to be a Grim Reaper? SoulxKid.
1. Prologue

**So this is just something I've had floating around in my head for quite some time, and I was going crazy because I couldn't figure out how to make it into a proper fanfiction. XP But here it is at long last! I haven't seen any stories like this yet so hopefully this'll be something new. This probably won't be very long, I'm not expecting it to go past 5 or 6 chapters. Hope you guys enjoy and make sure to leave me a review!**

**Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Soul is hospitalized yet again. As the Madness starts to consume him, will he start to develop feelings for one of his friends who just so happens to be a Grim Reaper?**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned such an awesome series, but alas I don't. **

**Warnings: Some swearing, and as you can probably tell from the summary it's going to be SoulxKid, so if you don't like then don't read. If you want to see it, I suppose there is some SoulxMaka in the beginning, but the pairing will end up being SoulxKid. :3 There's not going to be any lemons though, just some shounen-ai here and there. **

* * *

**Prologue**

"Yahoo! Another big mission for the awesome, the amazing, the incredible, Black Star!" Black Star shouted, a huge grin on his face as they stood on the stairs leading from the Academy. Tsubaki gave a small laugh, and Soul rolled his eyes at the ninja's loud declaration. Death The Kid frowned slightly, staring up at the sky.

"Is something the matter, Kid? You've been quiet for a while now," Liz noted, glancing over at him. The young Reaper's frown deepened, humming in annoyance.

"I have this nagging suspicion that the painting in my room is tilting slightly to the right." Kid suddenly got a frantic look in his eyes. "What if it is? I cannot accept this! I'm positive I checked it before we left, but what if something happened while we were gone?! I can't go on like this!" he cried, tugging at his hair. Patty burst out laughing and Maka sighed quietly.

"We've only been gone for 5 minutes," Soul noted, sweatdropping. "I'm sure it's fine."

"But I'm worried about it!" Kid yelled, dramatically collapsing to his knees. "And 5 is not a symmetrical number! Say 8! Say 8, damn it!"

"There, there, it'll be all right!" Patty cheered, patting the boy's back. "Just don't think about it, okay?"

"We have to focus on the mission right now," Liz added.

And within the next few seconds the Reaper disappeared from sight, leaving behind nothing but a trail of smoke and a distant, "I'm worried!".

"I guess the presence of the all-mighty Black Star was too much for him!" the blue-haired boy stated, laughing in that ridiculous way of his.

"Come back!" The Thompson sisters shouted simultaneously, half-heartedly running after him.

Soul sighed, a small smile finding its way onto his face. "That guy… what are we gonna do with him?"

Maka shrugged, smiling as well. "Who knows?

* * *

**2 hours later**

"Let's review the mission objectives," Maka whispered, gathering everyone together in a circle. "We need to sneak in without attracting attention-" At this point, everyone shot a pointed glare at Black Star, who gave an embarrassed chuckle. "-and find out what Arachnophobia is planning. They're working on something big, so be on your guard. If we're discovered, immediately retreat and meet back up at this spot. If something goes wrong, each team has one of these." Maka held up a device with a small button in the middle. "Push the button and the rest of us will hurry to your location. We know from experience how powerful their forces are; we won't stand a chance in a fight, especially split up." They thought back to when they tried to recover Brew, and depression temporarily hung over the students. "Does everyone understand the mission?"

There was a collective nod from the group, and they silently prepared themselves. It was decided that the weapons would remain in human form, because it would be too conspicuous if the meisters were carrying around their weapons. So they would each disguise themselves in the black cloaks and white masks of the organization and travel in pairs (a group of three in Kid, Liz, and Patty's case). They each had to discover as much information as they could within an hour. Then they would meet up safely and put together what they had learned.

At least, that was the plan. How were they supposed to know it would go horribly wrong?

* * *

**Dark: And there's the Prologue! Short, I know, but it's going to get good in the next chapter! I can't wait for the suffering to begin. :3 *evil laughter* *coughs* I mean, uh, stay tuned! ^_^ Don't forget to drop a review on your way out!**

**Soul: I eat reviews for breakfast. :D**

**Kid: Keep the number of reviews symmetrical! I'm watching you. O.O**

**Maka: -_-U **


	2. Important Mission Gone Wrong?

**Surprise! Chapter 1 is already finished. :P Haha bet you weren't expecting that, were you? Anyways sorry if it's a bit choppy, I haven't written anything in quite some time. -_-U I'll probably come back to this later and edit it after I've gotten my writing style back down again. The rest of the chapters won't have nearly as many line breaks as this one, I hope it doesn't annoy anyone too bad in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

After Kid had made sure that everyone's masks were perfectly aligned (which took up a good 15 minutes), each of the teams snuck in through different entrances. The place wasn't too heavily guarded, much to their surprise. It was extremely easy to get in.

Soul and Maka slowly traveled down the hallway, ears open to anything and everything. All they had caught so far were bits and pieces of random and meaningless conversations between the members of the organization. Soul was a bit disheartened already, but it hadn't even been 10 minutes yet so there was still a chance to hear something worthwhile. The scythe looked around, squinting a little to see through the black fabric. _This place is so uncool, every hallway looks exactly the same. Total snooze fest. I bet Kid's completely gushing over it though. 'Such perfect symmetry, such beauty!' _Soul almost laughed out loud at the mental image.

Maka discreetly bumped into him, reminding him to stay focused. It was then that the white-haired boy realized he had been falling behind. He bowed his head in apology, hurrying to catch up to his meister. A pair of Arachnophobia's members were walking their way, and Soul instantly quieted himself, straining his ears to pick up on their hushed conversation. It was a woman's voice.

"What should we do, Free? I haven't heard from Lady Medusa in days. Do you think she's…"

Soul's eyes instantly widened. "Lady Medusa"? Had she been in league with Arachnophobia as well?

"We shouldn't come to conclusions, Eruka. In any case, it took us forever to infiltrate this organization and get close to Arachne, we can't blow our cover now. We must wait and have faith in Lady Medusa."

_Medusa's undercover spies, eh? Interesting…_ _Information won't be doing her any good now that she's dead, though. _

The pair passed them, and the scythe couldn't pick up any more of their conversation. He sighed quietly, noticing that Maka had tensed up beside him, clearly remembering their last fight against the snake witch. He looked up, and stopped dead in his tracks. The blonde haired girl noticed and did the same.

"Well, well, well, well, well. Look what we have here, a pair of flies have flown into the spider's web," Mosquito grinned viciously.

Soul blinked, backing up a few steps. _Shit._

* * *

"A big star like me shouldn't have to sneak around like this," Black Star mumbled to himself, Tsubaki to the right of him. "They need to know I'm here. They need to know that the great Black Star has come to assassinate them all!"

"But that's not what we're supposed to do," Tsubaki whispered back, sweatdropping. "We need to be quiet or they'll find out we're here."

"Don't you worry, Tsubaki! If any trouble comes around, the indestructible Black Star will protect you! There's nothing to fear!"

"Of course," Tsubaki smiled hesitantly, still worrying about what would happen if they were discovered.

Suddenly a beeping noise sounded from within the blue-haired ninja's coat. Everyone in the hallway stared at Black Star, who was frantically trying to find the source of the beeping. He pulled out the small device that had been given to him, which was flashing red. Somehow he knew it was Soul and Maka's team that was in trouble. Something also told him they were in a lot of danger.

"Follow me, Tsubaki! Soul and Maka are in trouble!" Black Star wasted no time in sprinting down the hall as fast as he could, determined to get in on the fight.

* * *

Kid gazed in marvel at the structure of the building, amber colored eyes sparkling. "Have you ever seen something so beautiful? Liz, Patty? It's absolutely magnificent, perfect symmetry!" Patty nodded her head rapidly in agreement, which looked completely ridiculous considering she was clad in a white mask and concealing black robe.

"Creepy is more the word I'd use…" Liz said, shivering at all the cobwebs that hung from the ceiling. "Do you know what kind of things could be living in here? Let's hurry up and get the hell out of this place."

"We have to collect some helpful information first," Kid replied, pausing in his reveling. "I want this mission to be of use to my father. We have no idea where the Kishin is hidden, and the fight is getting more difficult day by day. We desperately need all the data we can acquire."

"Oki doki!"

"Fine by me, let's just hurry up with it."

The three were so busy talking that they never noticed the small beeping noise coming from Kid's cloak.

* * *

Maka slid backwards, already exhausted from holding this guy off. They'd cast aside the borrowed outfits, battling in their regular clothes. She panted slightly, and Soul was gritting his teeth in frustration from within the scythe. They hadn't been given a single chance to escape. _Why aren't the others here yet? We can't keep going on like this. _

"You know how you can get more power, Soul…"

The white-haired boy growled in annoyance. _I don't want to deal with you right now, little demon. Shut up and leave me alone. _

"Ready, Soul?" Maka asked, sounding out of breath. He nodded, grinning.

"Let's go, Soul Resonance!"

"Let's go, Soul Resonance!"

Maka held the scythe above her head, feeling it transform into a more powerful weapon. "Witch Hunter!"

Soul felt the attack hit, but he could already tell that it was doing no damage to the now humongous Mosquito. "Damn you!" he yelled out loud. The two were pushed back with extreme power, Maka's head colliding forcefully with the brick wall. "Maka!" The blonde fell to the ground, unconscious. Soul returned to his human form, trying to wake his meister. "Wake up! You've gotta get up!"

There was no reply, and the scythe felt anger course through his body. "You… you're going to pay for that!" Soul screamed, transforming his arm and running towards Mosquito. The huge man easily dodged all of his rage-induced attacks, his grin seeming to widen.

"You're not thinking anymore. That's gonna cost you." Soul was knocked to the ground with a forceful blow. A heavy weight collided with his chest, causing him to gasp for breath. The pressure kept increasing and he couldn't seem to be able to breathe anymore. A sickening snap echoed throughout the room. Soul coughed weakly, feeling a warm liquid trickle down from his mouth. _Coughing up blood… not good._ Still gasping for air, he tried to worm his way out from under the fist. The pressure increased again, and the scythe let out a pained scream.

"There we go, that's what I wanted to hear from you," Mosquito said, a sadistic smirk crossing his features. "Let me hear it again."

The weight lifted at long last and Soul took a deep breath, which turned out to be a mistake. He was overtaken by a painful coughing fit, feeling more and more blood decorate his face. He dragged himself to his feet and went to stand over Maka. _I'll protect my meister, if it's the last thing I do. _

Before he knew it, Mosquito had made his way over to Soul and had taken hold of the arm he'd turned into a scythe. The white-haired boy couldn't think straight and was on the verge of blacking out, so he didn't think of changing it back to normal. An agonizing pain tore through his stomach, and he looked down with wide eyes. He'd been impaled by his own arm, thanks to the grotesque man standing before him.

The weapon was torn out of him, and Soul fell to the ground next to Maka. His arm reverted back to human form and he began to feel extremely cold. It was an internal cold, one that he'd only felt once before after fighting Crona for the first time. He pressed a hand to his stomach, and then lifted it to where he could see it. _So much… red…_

"What do you say to being our little experiment?" Mosquito asked, voice seeming to be a bit distorted. Soul looked up and was worried that the world was spinning around him. The man had pulled out a gun-like contraption and was pointing it at him. Cringing a bit, the white-haired boy braced himself for whatever would come out of the weapon. But it never came. A flash of light and it was done. Mosquito was gone.

Soul blinked, vision becoming more and more blurry by the second. _I'll just sleep now… Yeah, sleep is cool. Maybe the pain will be gone by tomorrow._ His eyes slipped closed.

* * *

Believe it or not, Kid was the first one to stumble across the fallen pair, despite not having heard the call for help. His eyes widened, train of thought coming to a complete halt. "S… Soul? Maka? What happened?"

Both of them were unconscious, and in bad shape. Maka had a few small cuts littering her face, and a huge bump on the back of her head. Her hair was matted with blood.

Soul was in considerably worse condition. His face was pale and nearly devoid of life, breathing shallowly and a pained expression crossing his features every once in a while. There was a huge amount of blood staining his shirt and the ground around him. Kid couldn't see the rest of his body but he knew there was far more damage than met the eye. The Reaper bowed his head, fists clenched and trembling in anger.

"What's wrong, Kid?" Liz asked, catching up to him with Patty in tow. The sisters looked down at the pair and immediately fell silent as the image sunk into their minds.

"Who did this?" the black-haired boy asked, hatred in his voice. "Who did this?!" he shouted, words echoing and bouncing off of the walls. "Come out here so I can kick your ass!" He started to run down the hallway, but Liz and Patty grabbed his arms.

"We need to get them help," Patty said, completely serious for once.

"Soul could die if we don't get him back to the Academy soon," Liz added, casting another glance at the beaten weapon.

Kid gritted his teeth in frustration, and then gave a resigned sigh. He let his gaze linger on Soul, heart twisting painfully. He put a hand to his chest, wondering why he was having so much of a reaction to seeing the albino like this. It was a legitimate reaction though, right? All friends worry about each other.

"Ladies and gentleman, Black Star has arrived!" a familiar voice announced. Kid turned his head, seeing the blue-haired ninja and his partner running towards them. "Now where's the fight? Whose ass do I get to kick?"

Kid narrowed his eyes. "You're late, they're already gone."

Black Star pouted. "Damn it. This place is too big, we got lost. But a big star like me is far bigger than this building! The incredible Black Star-"

"We need to get back to the Academy, and quickly," the Reaper said, cutting the boy's rant short. "Soul's going to die unless we hurry back."

Black Star's mood instantly changed, and Tsubaki gasped in surprise. "What the hell do you mean? What happened?"

Kid turned and knelt down, carefully picking up Soul's body. "There's no time for explanations, we don't even know ourselves." The white-haired boy's face twisted in pain, groaning slightly in protest. "Black Star, take Maka. We're aborting the mission."

* * *

Soul opened his eyes groggily, not knowing where he was. He blinked a few times to clear away the sleep, then glanced around at his surroundings. Ah, they were back at the Academy already. And they were in class? _Oh, I get it. It was all a bad dream. I was just spacing off in the middle of lessons again._

"You okay, Soul? You seem a little out of it," Maka commented. The weapon looked to his left, grinning at the blonde.

"Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… I can think of a few reasons," Maka said, tone changing completely. The room suddenly became distorted and otherworldly, radiating evil intent. Soul stared at his partner, utterly confused.

"What's going on?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Maka tilted her head, grinning widely. "Don't you understand? This is Madness. This is the Hell inside your head. Get it?" Her appearance started to change, her face becoming more and more like the Kishin's every second. The room got colder and colder, to the point where it was nearly unbearable. "This is Madness. This is the Hell inside your head. Get it?" The voice sounded purely demonic now, not a trace of the meister's voice left. Soul tried to back away from the "thing", which was now smiling wickedly at him, idly licking its lips. "This is Madness. This is the Hell inside your head. Get it?"

Soul shook his head, covering his ears. "Shut up!" _None of it is real, none of it is real…_

The Kishin leaned forward, opening its mouth widely. "This is Madness. This is the Hell inside your head. Get it?" The scythe screamed as the skin was torn from his face. The Kishin devoured its meal, and Soul was left breathing heavily and staring down at his hands. Blood dripped down to paint his white skin red. _It's not real, it's not real…_

He lifted a trembling hand to assess the damage, but was not met with his own face. There was a face completely covered in cloth, a grinning smile eager for a meal, and three eyes that couldn't see. Words came out of a mouth that did not belong to him.

"This is Madness. This is the Hell inside my head."

_I don't know what's real anymore… Someone, please… help me…_

* * *

Kid willed his skateboard to go faster, desperate to reach the Academy as soon as possible. It would be at least another half an hour before he got there. Liz and Patty were walking back with Black Star and Tsubaki, because Maka's situation wasn't nearly as bad as the damaged scythe he held in his arms.

Soul suddenly whined, clutching at Kid's shirt. He buried his face into the Reaper's chest, continuing to whimper. The sight was so pathetic that it nearly brought tears to Kid's eyes. _This isn't right. Soul isn't supposed to act like a lost child. Soul is supposed to be the tough, laid-back, and strong-willed one. Whoever did this is going to pay. I swear on my life that they will pay._

He looked up, able to see Death City on the horizon. Kid narrowed his eyes, focusing only on his objective. _Almost there… hold on, Soul._

* * *

**30 Minutes Later**

"Spirit," Death said, breaking the silence between them. The redhead looked up, blinking.

"Yes, Lord Death? Is something the matter?" _I hope it's not something to do with Maka… _

"Kid and Soul have arrived at the Academy, but Maka and the others haven't even entered Death City yet. I have a feeling that something's not quite right. Will you go and check it out for me?" the Reaper asked, turning to look at his weapon.

Spirit nodded, alarms immediately going off in his head. _There's definitely something not right with this picture… I know Maka would never willingly leave Soul's side, and vice versa. Those two are closer than almost any weapon and meister pair I've ever seen. _

The Death Scythe hurried to the front entrance of the Academy, where he was met with a breathless Kid holding Soul in his arms. "Is everything okay? Where's Maka and the others?" Spirit called out, running towards the two.

Kid looked up at him, and Spirit was shocked to see a mix of fear and panic in the young Reaper's eyes. "Soul requires immediate medical attention, or else he'll die. Maka is unconscious but she's in considerably better condition. I went on ahead because I'm not sure how much longer Soul is going to hold out for."

Spirit glanced at his daughter's weapon, and could immediately see why Kid was so worried. Soul was barely breathing, and his skin was pale and sickly. Obviously he had lost a lot of blood, and there was no mistaking that he'd suffered internal damage as well. The redhead grimaced. "Bring him to the infirmary and I'll go grab Stein. If anyone can help Soul right now it's him."

Kid nodded, jumping down from his skateboard and sprinting down the hallway. _He's a quick thinker, that one, _Spirit thought, running for Stein's laboratory. _Just what I'd expect from Lord Death's son. Now let's just hope that Maka is all right and that Stein can get to Soul in time._

* * *

**Dark: So what did you think? Too many line breaks?**

**Everyone: *nods* It was horrible.**

**Dark: *goes into emo corner* I knew it… TT_TT I don't know how to deal with this!**

**Crona: I know how you feel… *joins Dark in the emo corner***

**Soul: *deadpans* Really, guys? That is so uncool.**

**Kid: *goes to count the number of line breaks* 7?! 7 line breaks?! You disgusting piece of filth! 7 is the worse number possible! Make it 8! Make it 8, damn you!**

**Dark: I'm sorry everyone. D'X I've failed you.**

**Maka: *sighs* Anyways make sure to leave us a review! :P We love reviews! **


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